


Rose Root, Dry Cowslips

by SilverMyfanwy



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Courtship, Dancing, Druids, Getting Together, Nonbinary Character, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Pagan Festivals, Teenagers, ish, nonbinary Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26421103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMyfanwy/pseuds/SilverMyfanwy
Summary: The AU where the Great Purge never happened, Merlin's a non-binary druid and they first meet Arthur at a ritual in the woods.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 78





	Rose Root, Dry Cowslips

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, this is 17/18yo non-binary druid Merlin meeting Prince Arthur when he stumbles across a druid festival. Ygraine never died, the purge never happened, and the Knights made their way to Camelot much earlier.

Arthur came across the ritual accidentally. He and some of the knights had been on a compromise between a hunt and a patrol, heading home in search of cooked food, when they heard chanting coming from over a hill.

“What’s that?” Arthur asked, pulling his horse to a halt.

Leon shrugged. “Druids?”

“Let’s go and find out.” Arthur nudged his horse forwards and off the path, then stopped again. “Percival, you’re with me. Everyone else stay here with the horses.”

Leo looked pained by this. “Sire, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“We’ll be fine. Come on, Percival.” Arthur strode through the trees and the chanting and the drums grew louder.

“Sire, might they be in some sort of sacred ritual that isn’t supposed to be interrupted?” Percival asked as they began walking up the hill.

“We’ll go slowly and if it seems like we shouldn’t be there, we’ll turn around and go back and hopefully they won’t spot us.”

They reached the crest of the hill and Arthur lay on his stomach to peer over the top without being spotted. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the cause of the noise, though Percival seemed to pause out of confusion. “What are they doing?”

“I’ve got no idea but we’re joining in.” Arthur decided, already scrambling to his feet. “This looks fun!”

“Arthur, your mother’s expecting you for dinner.” Percival pointed out.

“You can tell her I’ll be a bit late. Say I’m helping strengthen relationships with he druids.” Arthur glanced back over his shoulder to Percival. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“I’ll send Lancelot after you.” Percival decided. “I’ll see you back at the castle, sire. And be careful!”

“I will be!” Arthur said cheerily, then climbed over the ridge to make his way down into the glade.

It was full of druids laughing, drinking, dancing. Robes swirled around them as hair swished over shoulders and the _drums_. They were so loud, so solid, that Arthur could feel them crawling into his ears and his heart began to pound in time with the rhythm.

“Hello.” there was a voice, languid and rolling. Arthur turned to his left to see who had spoken. It was one of the druids, a little taller than Arthur and who looked to be the same age as him. The druid had black hair, eyes swirling blue and gold, flowers in their hair. “I’m Merlin. And you’re not a druid.”

Arthur shook his head sheepishly. “I’m Prince Arthur of Camelot. I hope you don’t mind me being here.”

Merlin’s eyes widened. “Prince Arthur. You are more than welcome here. Come with me.” Merlin waved Arthur away from the main part of the glade, past some bushes and into a much smaller glade.

“I have heard much about you, Prince Arthur of Camelot.” Merlin said.

The drums were still pounding inside Arthur. “I have heard much about druids but I have heard nothing of a ritual such as this.”

“Do you like it?” Merlin took a step closer to Arthur.

“Yes.”

“Dance with me.” Merlin commanded, grabbing Arthur by the hand and suddenly they were spinning.

They danced. Time seems to blur; the green of the leaves, the yellow of the sunlight an the white of Merlin’s robes. It went on and on and on.

Arthur had no idea how long they danced for but eventually they slowed and Merlin ran his hands over Arthur’s shoulders, still slightly out of breath. “You are good at dancing.”

“Thank you.” Arthur paused. “Are you-” he paused and blushed, looking at the ground. “I’m sorry, this is going to sound really strange. Are you a boy or a girl?”

Merlin smiled. “I’m neither.”

“Neither?”

“Neither. My body is that of a man, but my soul is not.” Merlin smiled, voice soft and accent rolling over itself over and over again.

“Oh.” Arthur was both less sure and more sure of what to do with his attraction to Merlin than he had been before.

“Have you met someone like me before?” Merlin asked quietly.

Arthur shook his head.

Merlin smiled. “I’m glad to be your first.”

That smiled made Arthur’s heart go jumping through his chest in time to the pattern his twirling, whirling insides were beating out. Merlin was one of the most beautiful people he’d ever seen; sleek black hair brushing over pale skin, blue eyes like sapphires and the crown of daisies and anemones and little pink and blue things twisted around his head looked as beautiful as the crowns of gold and jewels in the vaults under Camelot that Arthur would inherit one day.

“I doubt any other prince can compare to you.” Merlin said.

Arthur took Merlin’s hand and kissed the knuckles. “Thank you.”

They stared at each other for a moment and then Merlin leaned in and kissed Arthur.

Arthur had kissed girls before, though only a few and not very much. He’d kissed two boys precisely; one (Gwaine) while drunk and the other because at the age of 15 he and one of the sons of the lords had been bored, alone and curious. Kissing Merlin was nothing like kissing any of them. Merlin slid their hands around the back of Arthur’s neck and into his hair to pull him closer. Arthur placed his hands on Merlin’s waist and let the thoughts of returning to the castle for dinner leave his mind completely.

After a few moments, Merlin pulled away. They smiled. “It is nearing dark. Though I would love for you to stay here, I imagine you need to return to Camelot.”

“Sadly I do. My mother will be furious if I am late for dinner. How old are you?”

“19.”

“The same as me.” Arthur said quietly. He sat down on a moss covered rock and Merlin sat next to him.

“You aren’t in a hurry to get back to your mother then.” Merlin noticed.

“I love her dearly but I want to stay here right now.” Arthur smiled. “What do you do here? At this camp. Do you- dance?”

Merlin laughed. “I do what I’m told, mostly. And get into trouble.”

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows. “They don’t sound like they go together.”

“I can be a bit clumsy. And a bit slow. And a bit forgetful. And I don’t really want to stay here.” Merlin admitted. “It’s not that I don’t love living here. I just want-” they looked at the floor sheepishly. “I want to go to Camelot. I want to become a physician.”

“Do Druids not have physicians?”

“We have healers. They're very different to physicians. I tried being a healer. A trainee healer. Didn’t go very well.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Healers do spells. Physicians don’t. can do basic healing spells but I can’t do much more than that. I want to learn how to make people better by using poultices and potions and not just spells. I want to learn how the human body works.”

"The physician in Camelot has got an opening for an apprentice, I believe.” Arthur said slowly. “I think the last one fainted at the sight of a five-year-old's scraped knee.”

They giggled.

“I don’t think I’d be much good a the start but I can guarantee that I wouldn’t faint a the sight of a scraped knee.”

Arthur ran his thumb back and forth across a patch of moss. “Come back to Camelot with me."

Merlin stared at him, eyes wide.

“Come to Camelot and be the physician’s apprentice. I think he’d like you. You’d be able to stay with him, in the citadel, and if you were in Camelot I would be able to see you.”

“You want to see me again?”

“I want to court you.” Arthur said simply. “And though I would be willing to come here every day to see you if necessary, I don’t think my parents would approve.”

“A prince wishes to court me.” Merlin whispered. They sat at Arthur’s feet and leaned back so their head rested on Arthur’s knees.

“Will you accept?”

“Will you take me with you to Camelot and introduce me to the physician?”

“Yes.” Arthur ran a cautious hand over Merlin’s head. “And I will introduce you even if you do not accept my offer.”

“Prince or no prince, I accept.” Merlin reached up to tangle their fingers with Arthur’s. “I should very much like to see you again also.”

“I can take you back to Camelot with me tonight, if you wish. Or I could come and get you tomorrow. So you have time to pack your things and say goodbye.”

“I have three goodbyes and three things to pack. I can leave with you tonight.” Merlin stood up. “Come.”

They led Arthur through the forest to the edge of the druid camp. “Wait here. I won’t be long.”

Merlin wasn’t. Three minutes later they returned in a long red cloak with a bag. “One cloak, one bag, some clothes upon my ma’s insistence, rose root and dry cowslip.” Merlin grinned. “Bit more than three things, I’m afraid.”

“You have no need for worry.” Arthur offered Merlin his hand. “Let’s go and find my knights. You'll have to ride with me; we’ve no spare horses.”

“That doesn’t sound like a hardship.”

“Why rose root and dry cowslips?”

“In druid tradition, you give rose root and dry cowslip to the person you court. Cowslip for welcoming the person to your love and rose for growth.” Merlin took Arthur’s hand. “Also, my mother was running out of space in her stores and needed me to bring them with me.”

“Would you like me to carry your bag for you?”

“I think I can carry a bag by myself.” Merlin said. “But it would also be quite nice to have a prince carry my bag for me.”

“Then have a prince carry a bag for you, you shall.”

The knights were a little surprised to see Arthur with a druid.

“Merlin here's coming back to Camelot. We’re courting.” Arthur told them, helping Merlin onto his horse. “Hopefully my mother will find this an acceptable explanation for me being late. What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm silvermyfanwy on Tumblr! Come say hi!


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